Canned hunting could spread disease among Indiana deer

Once again canned hunting has reared its ugly head in the Indiana legislature. The deer farmers are getting smarter though. Through their PAC, the Indiana Deer and Elk Famers have bought a fair number of votes in the House and Senate, almost guaranteeing the amendment of Senate Bill 487 to include new rules legitimizing high-fence deer hunting in our state. While other states have gone forward and banned this practice (19 so far), Indiana is taking a step backward in allowing this practice.

The main issue is disease. In the recently completed Indiana deer season, legal hunters took a record number 136,248 animals. It's not that hard to kill a deer in Indiana. Pennsylvania recently joined the ranks of states with Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) when it was discovered on a game farm in that state. Pennsylvania (which was the biggest supplier to Indiana deer farmers until this happened) can no longer ship deer to Indiana. One deer shipped to Indiana last spring was from the farm where CWD was discovered from Pennsylvania. That deer escaped from the Indiana farm and could be loose or dead somewhere in Jackson County. We don't know if that deer was infected or not. Testing for CWD was intensified in the area but thankfully no positives have been found.

CWD is always fatal to the deer. It is closely related to mad cow disease. There is no live test to determine if a deer has it or not. Wisconsin (which went through its CWD horror earlier this decade) has spent between $40 million and $50 million trying to control the disease. It started on a game farm there and has now spread to the wild herd. Nearly every scenario where CWD has been discovered in a state usually starts on or very near a captive game farm. How will Indiana cope with such a disaster if CWD gets into the wild herd? These game farms need to be held financially responsible as should these legislators attempting to destroy our hunting heritage.

Jack Corpuz

Indianapolis

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Canned hunting could spread disease among Indiana deer

Once again canned hunting has reared its ugly head in the Indiana legislature. The deer farmers are getting smarter though.